Down to the Wire

A commercial directed by Terry Windell of Los Angeles-based A Band Apart Commercials for BBDO in Detroit uses digital images to construct a Dodge Intrepid sedan from the ground up. Windell worked with visual effects house R/GA to create the ad, which reflects Chrysler’s use of computers to digitally design, manufacture and test a car before it goes to market. Here’s how they did it:

1. A digital wire frame allowed Windell to choreograph camera movement from the front of the sedan to the back, adding digital parts to the car as the spot progresses.

2. A virtual environment fills in around the sedan, as digital images of its engine, seats and other interior parts appear inside the car. The data swirling around the car is an ever-changing stream of mathematical calculations used to render the car on a computer.

3. The end of the 30-second spot shows the completed car sitting on a digitally constructed freeway surrounded again by equations that allow designers to simulate the car driving along a bumpy road at 60 miles per hour, or to test its engine until it fails.